Manchester United are determined to acquire Sneijder's services. Photo: REUTERS

The English Premier League champions, Manchester United, are reportedly back in the race to sign Italian Serie A side Inter Milan's playmaker Wesley Sneijder. The move seems to be one that is set to bolster United's midfield and creativity to the squad's attacking flow.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson feels the time is right to move for the 27-year-old Dutch midfielder, as his current club is struggling domestically and this could be the best chance to lure him away from San Siro and to Old Trafford.

The former Italian champions made their intentions very clear, earlier in the season, saying that if United really wanted to acquire Sneijder's services, they would have to pay nothing less than £40 million. According to a Daily Star report, the club said Sneijder would be free to go in January if the English club could shell out what would be an all-time record transfer payment for them.

United, so far, have had a pretty tough time of it, both in domestic and continental competitions; the team crashed out of the UEFA Champions League group stages on Wednesday night, for the first time since 2005, in addition to etching out scrappy and narrow wins in the Premier League this season and suffering a massive 1-6 home defeat to local rivals Manchester City.

Although Ferguson said earlier that January modifications were highly unlikely, it appears he is now set to make full use of the forthcoming transfer window and add new faces to the team, fuelling a challenge on league leaders Manchester City. United have managed a mere seven goals in their last seven league games.

It is believed that a £25 million bid will be enough to see through the deal.

Inter Milan, meanwhile, are battling for survival in top flight Italian football, sitting in a poor 16th position at the moment.

Sneijder has made a total of 89 appearances for the Nerazzuri and has also managed to score 17 times.